Stay Interview questions to improve employee retention

Here are 50 excellent Stay interview questions that can help you retain your best people better.

It has been identified that most leaders are unwilling to conduct stay interviews fearing employees may ask for increments which haven’t been budgeted for.

However, these fears are baseless as stay interviews can in fact be your best guard against employee attrition. So what exactly is a stay interview?

A stay interview can be described as a one-on-one interview between a manager and an employee. The objective is for you to learn what is it that makes your employees want to keep working for you. It is designed in a way that elicits specific responses from the employee as to what may make them want to leave.

After conducting enough stay interviews, you may realize that the reasons why they may stay with you or why they may want to leave you are similar. The advantage – You now know much in advance what can make them stay with you.

Here are some stay interview questions that may elicit the responses that will then guide you with how to retain your best people:

Stay Interview Questions

What feedback about your performance that you are not receiving presently would you like to receive?

What self-improvement opportunities would you prefer to have that would be much beyond your present role?

What type of flexibility would you find helpful to maintain your work-life balance?

Are there any skills or talents that you possess which we must make the most of?

In the time that you have spent here, are there any accomplishments that you have felt good about?

What is the one thing that you would like to change about your job or in the company?

What is it about your job that makes you feel most excited about coming to work?

What is that one thing about your job that makes you want to not turn up to work?

What are you most passionate about?

What is the one job that you could describe as your dream job?

If you go for a role change, what is the one thing you will miss the most about your present job?

Is there anything that you did in a previous role that you loved the most and don’t get to do now?

How would you describe your best day at work?

Given an opportunity, what would be the one thing that you would want to change about your role and your work?

Is there anything that you consistently think about while on your way to work?

Is there anything particular that you feel most bothered about in your role?

Do you feel you are presently doing the best work of your life ever?

Do you believe that the work you do makes a difference within the company and also is noticed externally by customers?

Do you believe that your co-workers perception about you is that you make a difference?

Do you feel that your present role does full justice to your capability and that you are completely utilized?

What are the factors that make you feel completely utilized in this role?

What can we do to better utilize your talent and abilities?

Do your believe that your team members listen carefully to your views and value your inputs?

If you were your own manager, what would you do differently which your present managers don’t?

What motivates you most in your present role and what is it that you expect more from?

Is there anything particular that frustrates you and cause you to abhor coming to work?

Given an opportunity to restructure your present role, what are the key aspects that you will include?

Where do you see yourself two years down the line in this organisation?

Have you recently received any recognition that has improved your commitment to work with us?

Is there anything that you believe we should do to recognize your efforts better?

Is there any way we can improve your exposure to the decision makers in the company?

If you were to ever consider leaving us, what would be the trigger that may cause you to take this step?

Was there any incident in the last one year that made you feel frustrated about your present role?

Did you have any conversation with other employees who have considered leaving or have actually left us? Did you feel any agreement with any of the reasons they shared with you for leaving or wanting to leave?

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, how happy are you working here with us?

If the number is not 10, what would you want to happen for you to change this number to 10?

How would you rate our organization on a scale of 1-10 with 10 representing the best?

Do you believe we walk the talk when it comes to having the highest regard for our employees?

Did you ever think about leaving us in the past? What caused you to consider leaving us?

What made you decide to stay with us?

Is there any instance when you actively searched for a job? Why did you want to look for other options?

Do you believe that you are a part of the overall company vision? Why do you or why don’t you feel so?

Would you believe that you do meaningful work? How can we make it more meaningful?

Have you had enough opportunities in the last one year to grow and develop? What do you believe could help you be a better contributor?

Do you believe you are in control of your role to be a successful and productive performer for us?

Do you feel that any change gets instantly communicated to you?

Do your colleagues treat you fairly and respectfully?

Do you trust the senior leaders of our company?

Is there anything that you may want as part of the employee benefits package which is presently not being offered? Do you have suggestions about how we can improve as an organization?

Do you have any suggestions to help us know how we can improve as an organization?

If you are thus able to learn what employees need and want in your organization, it helps you to set goals thus spending your time, energy and money appropriately. Without this you would be shooting in the dark and hoping all goes well for you and your company.

With the regular insights that you receive through stay interviews, you can determine and identify areas of improvement which would in turn allow you to retain your best employees much more effectively.